Archive for the ‘Secretaries of State’ Category
OH: GOP Says Dem SOS is Preventing People From Getting Absentee Ballots
Last Updated on Thursday, 28 August 2008 09:54 Written by rslcpol Thursday, 28 August 2008 10:23
This appears to the second time in a very short span of time that a Democrat Secretary of State has apparently willfully taken a position that appears to disenfranchise voters. Isn’t running elections, and insuring ALL VOTERS get a simplified and legal chance to vote job one for these folks? From the Zanesville Time Recorder:
Republicans were indignant, saying there was enough money and that Brunner had ignored their intent to make the mailings uniform across Ohio. It was akin to disenfranchisement of voters in small, rural counties that couldn’t afford to do the mailing with their own money, they said. A few counties, including Franklin, have chosen to mail the absentee applications along with a required notice of election to all of their voters in previous elections.
Brunner didn’t change her mind, and this week Republicans countered.
Husted wrote a letter to county elections boards telling them that Brunner hadn’t followed the Legislature’s instructions and that all counties should mail the absentee ballot applications. The Legislature would reimburse their costs if the money did run out, the letter said.
“They can go around the secretary of state’s decision,” Husted said in an interview. “We are eliminating all of the excuses she is making. Why does she want to prevent people from getting access to absentee ballots?”
Posted under Dems Behaving Badly, Secretaries of State, State Legislature News | No Comments
Oregon SOS: Voter Registration Targets Pets, Kids, and Dead People
Last Updated on Friday, 22 August 2008 10:51 Written by rslcpol Friday, 22 August 2008 10:51
From OPB News:
How would you feel if you got a card in the mail inviting a dead relative to register to vote?
The Oregon Secretary of State’s office has been getting angry calls and letters from people claiming that’s been happening.
The misplaced invites come from special interest groups, not the state. And Oregon elections director John Lindback says it’s not just dead people getting voter registration cards.
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WV: GOP SOS Candidate Won’t Quit
Last Updated on Friday, 22 August 2008 09:01 Written by rslcpol Friday, 22 August 2008 09:01
From Charleston Daily Mail:
Three days after offering to quit the race, the Republican candidate for secretary of state says he’s sticking with his campaign.
Charles Minimah asked incumbent Secretary of State Betty Ireland on Monday to take his place. But the fellow Republican says she’s not running.
Minimah, 56, also missed deadlines for removing his name from the ballot. But he said on Thursday that he will remain in the contest with Democrat Natalie Tennant.
“I still believe I am the better candidate,” Minimah told reporters outside the state Capitol. “I am fully committed to moving ahead with this race.”
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WA: Young Republicans Campaign in Cyberspace
Last Updated on Monday, 18 August 2008 10:35 Written by rslcpol Monday, 18 August 2008 09:39
Hey, a little fun on the web from Washington State Republicans. They cover the gambit, even catching 5 minutes of the incumbent A.G. Rob McKenna talking about the new primary system in Washington State. From SeattlePI:
The words flash onscreen over earnest rock guitar: “I sometimes ask myself … Why am I a REPUBLICAN?? … But then I realize … I am SOOO not a Democrat.”
A slide show kicks in, set to Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy”: images of the Clintons, peace activists, abortion rights protesters, Sean Penn.
“Are you really one of them?” the clip asks. “I didn’t think so.”
The online video and others like it — including an interview series that, despite the name “Republican on the Street,” is somewhat less partisan — are the efforts of MoveRed.org, a mobilizing group for young conservatives sponsored by the King County Republican Party. With an emphasis on social-networking and new media channels, MoveRed.org courts young Republicans and potential converts ready to “join the (R)esurgence” of conservatism.
Posted under Attorney General News, Secretaries of State, State Legislature News | No Comments
WA: New Primary System Set to make its Debut
Last Updated on Monday, 18 August 2008 10:27 Written by rslcpol Monday, 18 August 2008 08:57
Looks like Louisiana has successfully exported their Cajun style primary out west. What’s next – Mardi Gras Emerald City style? From the Examiner:
Washington’s contested “top two” primary makes its debut Tuesday, with state officials predicting near-record turnout and political parties waiting in the wings for another possible court challenge.
Ballots went to voters on Aug. 1. For the first time since 2003, voters can skip back and forth across party lines as they pick finalists for governor, Congress, the judiciary, the Legislature and other statewide offices.
Secretary of State Sam Reed, who’s been talking up the top two system in a statewide tour, said he detects a “huge sigh of relief on the part of the voters.”
“When we had pick-a-party, my office and county auditors received a huge amount of complaints and gripes,” said Reed, who’s also up for re-election this year. Now, “we are hearing nothing, which is an indication that people are satisfied. It’s been a remarkable change.”
Posted under Attorney General News, Secretaries of State | No Comments
Nadar is on the Ballot… In Montana
Last Updated on Friday, 15 August 2008 10:55 Written by rslcpol Friday, 15 August 2008 10:55
See that PA Dems?
Montana election officials say Ralph Nader is now qualified to appear on the ballot in November as a candidate for president.
Secretary of State Brad Johnson says Nader supporters gathered enough signatures for him to qualify as an independent presidential candidate.
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WA: New Primary System Calms Voters Tempers
Last Updated on Monday, 11 August 2008 09:58 Written by rslcpol Monday, 11 August 2008 09:58
From Herald Net:
Something is absent from primary ballot envelopes now flowing into election offices statewide.
Anger.
During elections each of the past four years, voters who despised having to declare a political party in partisan races scrawled angry and sometimes hateful messages on envelopes and ballots.
In 2004, one Island County voter wrote “I won’t vote this Nazi ballot” in black marker on the envelope while Snohomish County voters jotted slogans such as “This primary sucks” and “Won’t participate!!” on their ballots.
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Washington Voter Guide Has the Wrong Oath
Last Updated on Friday, 8 August 2008 12:30 Written by rslcpol Friday, 8 August 2008 12:30
From the Bellingham Herald:
Glenn Burden spotted it. Burden is a Fircrest resident and Tacoma schoolteacher who helps disabled students transition from school to work. He’s also my neighbor. (Note to other neighbors: I’ve got dibs on claiming Glenn as my partner the next time we play Trivial Pursuit.)
Burden wrote a letter to Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed’s office to point out the error. Reed’s office wrote back to say it was an “unfortunate mistake.” The office fixed the guide’s online version and assured “more care will be taken in the future.”
The oath in the voters’ guide is actually the oath taken by members of Congress, the vice president, members of the president’s Cabinet, federal judges and folks in civil service and the military. It’s set out in Title 5 of the U.S. Code.
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Despite High Expectations, Turnout Low in Missouri Primary
Last Updated on Thursday, 7 August 2008 10:24 Written by rslcpol Thursday, 7 August 2008 10:24
From STLToday:
Missouri’s statewide voter turnout for Tuesday primaries was dismal. No debate about it.
Less than 19 percent of the state’s registered voters cast ballots, far less than the 31 percent that Secretary of State Robin Carnahan had predicted.
Tuesday’s statewide tally of 755,385 voters was almost half that cast in February’s presidential primary. Ditto for the August primary of four years ago, when close to 1.5 million showed up at the polls.
The biggest attraction in August 2004 was the proposed constitutional amendment to, in effect, ban same-sex marriage. Balloting on that issue, which passed handily, even edged out the overall vote for that year’s nasty Democratic primary for governor.
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Missouri Primary Results
Last Updated on Wednesday, 6 August 2008 08:31 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 6 August 2008 08:31
Get full results for the LG, AG, and SOS primaries here. Don’t have time – we’ll tell you:
AG: Chris Koster narrowly takes Dem nomination (story here) – 2nd place finisher Margaret Donnelly is well with in her rights under state law to call for a recount. If that’s the case, can Koster hang on? Regardless, GOP nominee Michael Gibbons (he got 100%) is funded, rested, and ready.
LG: Incumbent L.G. Peter Kinder and Dem State Rep Sam Page take their party nominations
SOS: Dem incumbent SOS Robin Carnahan and Republican attorney Mitch Hubbard both take 100% of the vote – they had no challengers.
Want to track a particular state leg race – go here and pick your race.
Posted under Attorney General News, Blog, Lieutenant Governor News, Secretaries of State | No Comments